Single-vaned rotary discharge assistant operable in a side outlet of a container for granular material, and a weighted apron engaging said vane in its outermost position



March 27, 1951 O ENESTVEDT 2,546,733

SINGLE-VANED ROTARY DISCHARGE ASSISTANT OPERABLE IN A SIDE OUTLET OF A CONTAINER FOR GRANULAR MATERIAL, AND A WEIGHTED APRON ENGAGING SAID'VANE IN ITS OUTERMOST POSITION Filed DEC. 12, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 27, 1951 o. ENESTVEDT 2,546,733

' SINGLE-VANED ROTARY DISCHARGE AssIsTANT OPERABLE IN A SIDE OUTLET OF A CONTAINER FOR GRANULAR MATERIAL, AND A WEIGHTED APRON ENGAGING SAID VANE IN ITS OUTERMOST POSITION Filed Dec. 12, I946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Patented Mar. 27, 1951 Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SINGLE-VANED- ROTARY DISCHARGE AS- SISTANT OPERABLE IN A SIDE OUTLET OF A CONTAINER FOR GRAN ULAR MATERIAL, AND A WEIGHTED APRON ENGAGING SAID VANE IN ITS OUTERMOST POSITION OdeanEnestvedt, Sacred Heart, Minn.

Appli'cationDecember 12, 1946, Serial No. 715,711

3' Claims; (01. 222-410) My invention relates to machines for drying granular material such as corn or the like and has for its primary object the provision of such a machine which is inexpensive in construction and rapid and efiicient in its drying action.

Another object of my invention is to provide a stru'cture for the above purpose which both heats and .cools the granular material during the drying process so as to place the same in an ideal condition. for storage.

, Another object of my invention is a novel arrangement of parts whereby the air stream utilized in the cooling of the granular material is thereafter commingled with heated air to heat the granular material as it initially enters the machine. I

Another object of my invention is the provision of a novel device for controlling the how of granular materials froma receptacle containing the same.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my machine with some parts broken away and some parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine of Fi 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section, also on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section with some parts broken away, taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section, on a greatly enlarged scale, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation taken substantially on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, my novel machine is provided with a housing, identified in its entirety by the numeral I, the upper portion of which defines a material heating chamber 2 and the base of which includes an air heating chamber 3, a blower 4, and a material cooling chamber 5.

Preferably, and as shown, a plurality of reversely inclined perforate conductors or screens 6 are so mounted within the material heating chamber 2 as to provide a continuous cascade for ,the grain as it passes through the heating cham- These screens are supported and rein- (See particularly Figs.- 1

ber 2. forced by angle irons l. and 2.) A

It will be noted that the bottom screen 5 of the cascade is positioned to feed the granular mate-- rial therefrom into the material cooling chamber 5", which is provided with spaced perforate walls 8 which are substantially parallel. T

Secured to the side wall of the air heating chamber 3 is a conventional gun-type electrical oil burner 9, which directsits flame into a refractory bricked fire pot l0. Air heated by the flame from the oil burner, together with the productsof combustion, is exhausted from the fire pot i0 and is deflected upwardly by baffle H to the blower 4 through an intake passage 52 therein.

As illustrated, particularly in Figs. 3 and 5, cold air is sucked through the spaced perforate sides 8 of material cooling chamber 5 by the fan 4, at which time, it cools the granular material therein. This air thenenters the fan housing by way of an opening l3 therein, where it is com mingled with the heated air and the products of combustion from the oil burner 9, and is then forced upwardly through outlet passage M which terminates at the bottom of the material heating chamber 2. The warmed air is allowed to expand in its upward course through the screens 6 and the granular materials being conducted thereon. At its top, the heating chamber 2 is open to atmosphere. Preferably, and as shown, I also provide a number of fixed cold air openings l5 and a pair of adjustable cold air inlet openings H5 in the air heating chamber 3. However, the number and arrangement of these cold air openings may be varied, as desired.

It will be observed, particularly by reference to Fig. 3, that the perforate walls 8 of the material cooling chamber 5 are relatively closely spaced so as to allow only a thickness of granular material therebetween, through which the cold air may readily pass without too great restriction.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3 and 6, it will be observed that a material receiving and conveying device in the form of a trough and auger I1 and I8 respectively are positioned immediately below a lateral opening [9 adjacent the bottom 20 of material cooling chamber 5. As shown in Fig. 2, trough I1 and auger l8 may, if desired, lead to an elevator mechanism 2| or the like. Positioned in the opening is and extending longi-v tudinally thereof is a rotary shaft 22 provided with a radially projecting longitudinally extending vane 23. It will be observed that rotary shaft 22 intersects a plane extending between the top and bottom edges of the opening 19, the former of which is identified by the numeral 24 and the latter, which is in the form of an outwardly extending lip, identified by the numeral 25. Hinged to the upper edge 24 of opening I9 is a flexible closure flap 26 preferably in the nature of an apron of canvas or some such suitable material.

At its bottom edge, the apron 23 is provided with nections, to wit: a belt29 runs over a pulley 30 on the motor28; a pulley 3| secured to a blower shaft 32, which in turn is connected to the vane 33 of the blower 4; and a pulley 34 in the mechanism of the oil burner 9. An idler pulley 35 serves to keep the belt 29 under proper tension. A chain or belt 36 runs over a pulley 37 on the oil burner mechanism shaft, identified by the numeral 38,

and a speed-reducing pulley 39 secured to theend of the auger IS. The shaft 22 is driven from the auger [B by means of a belt 45 running over a pair of cone pulleys 4|, one each on the auger l8 and the shaft 22. Speed of the shaft 22 may be varied by positioning the belt 49 on different steps of the coned pulleys 4 I.

While I have disclosed a commercial embodiment of my invention, it should be clear that the same is subject to alteration and modification without departure from the scope of the appended claims. I

What I claim is:

1. Means for controlling the flow of granular materials from a container having a discharge opening in the side thereof, said means comprising a horizontally disposed rotary shaft disposed in said opening with its axis parallel to the plane of said opening, said plane intersecting the cross section of said shaft in such a manner that a portion of said cross section extends outwardly beyond said plane, a single radially projecting longitudinally extending vane on said shaft, a longitudinally extended lip projectin laterally outwardly from the bottom of said opening, and a flexible apron hinged to the upper edge of said opening and yieldingly biased toward engagement with said shaft and the extended edge of said lip, said lip projecting laterally outwardly from said plane a distance at least equal to the portion of said shaft outwardly of said plane.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said lip projects laterally outwardly a lesser distance than said vane when said vane is brought to a position overlying said lip.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said apron is biased by a weight secured to the,

bottom thereof.

ODEAN ENESTVEDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

